25 best WWE Intercontinental Champions of all time

12. Triple H

Much like his long-time nemesis, The Rock, Triple H’s rise to stardom also included multiple runs with the Intercontinental Championship. Then going by Hunter Hearst Helmsley, aka The Connecticut Blueblood, he won his first IC title by defeating Marc Mero, with whom he was feuding with over the services of Sable, on an episode of Monday Night RAW on October 21, 1996. He held the title for 115 days before losing it to The Rock, who was then still going by Rocky Maivia, on February 13, 1997. Later that year, he would help form D-Generation X with Shawn Michaels and Chyna and his career took off from there. He regained the title by beating The Rock at SummerSlam in 1998, the same year in which he became the sole leader of DX following Shawn Michaels’ first retirement, but had to vacate it six weeks later due to a knee injury and wouldn’t hold the title again for two and a half years. Of course, he did win the WWE Championship on four different occasions during that time.

What I like about Triple H is that the Intercontinental Championship never seemed beneath him. There are so many instances when guys win the WWE Championship and feel like the IC title is a step backward, which I suppose could be if not done correctly, but in my opinion, that wasn’t the case with Triple H. He won the title for the third time when he was a member of the Two-Man Power Trip, his tag team with Stone Cold Steve Austin, by defeating Chris Jericho on SmackDown in a great match.

He lost the title just a week later to Jeff Hardy in a surprising upset but would regain it just four days later in a rematch on RAW. His fourth reign would last 34 days until he was defeated by Kane at Judgment Day in a Chain Match that saw Austin try to interfere with a steel chair. Austin went to hit The Big Red Monster but ended up hitting The Game instead and that was that. The two would renew their rivalry the following year in the infamous Katie Vick storyline and would battle for both the Intercontinental Championship and the Heavyweight Championship at No Mercy, a match won by Triple H to win his fifth and final IC title. The belt was then unified with the Big Gold Belt and was deactivated for seven months.

Well now I’m thinking that maybe the IC belt was a little beneath him. All kidding aside, Triple H’s five reigns lasted a total of 200 days but they were 200 of the most important days in the history of WWE.